Finalmente
by Laydee-Panda
Summary: Completed! Lucy makes yet another attempt to become a star.


"Hey Ethel, take a look at that this." Lucy said indicating the spot on the paper where she

was reading. Ethel stood up and peered over Lucy's shoulder.

"You wouldn't be indicating that little blurb about that audition would you?" Ethel asked

eyeing her suspiciously.

"Weeelllll." Lucy said. Ethel shook her head

"Lucy, you know you won't get away with this right?" Lucy stood up and walked to the

mantle and seized the silver cigarette box, pulling one out and lighting up.

"Oh, please Ethel. He owes me! I mean honestly. He takes off with his band to Los

Angeles, for two weeks, taking Fred with him mind you, and leaves us here alone and

bored, what does he expect me to do? The audition is tomorrow night at 7:00, Ricky

doesn't call until 9. You can watch little Ricky, I'll go to the audition, and come back

way before then. And if he does happen to call, you can cover for me, just tell him that I

went out to pick up some grocery's or something." Ethel shook her head,

"I just don't know Lucy. You know I can't keep a secret. What if he does call before 9?"

"Well, then, just tell him the minimum amount of truth" Ethel tilted her head curiously.

"How do you expect I do that?"

"Well, the audition is going to be held at the Rainbow Diner right? You can tell him I

went there. He did leave me some money in case I didn't feel like cooking. I could have

easily gone down there to pick up some take-out." Lucy said with a smirk

"OOOH" Ethel said "Okay, fine. But I'm warning you, if Ricky finds out he is not going

to be happy."

The next day Lucy hopped into the shower at 5:30 and began "practicing" for her

audition.

"Lucy?" Ethel said. "I think you need to replace your radio battery's, the sound is a little

crackly."

Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Ethel, that's me silly! The radio's not on! Hah hah, you're such a joker."

"Ah" Ethel rolled her eyes and walked back into the living room trying hard to suppress

laughter.

At 6:00, Lucy sauntered into the living room wearing her best outfit, her hair up

in rollers.

"How do I look?" she asked twirling around for Ethel to see.

"Hey, nice hair-do, but that outfit is dismal!" she said laughing.

Lucy rolled her eyes and smacked Ethel playfully on the shoulder. "Come on seriously!"

she said

"Okay, seriously" Ethel said between giggles "I really do like that outfit, I don't believe

I've seen it before, when did you get it?"

Lucy gave Ethel a proud smile. "Ricky let me pick it out before he left I swear, as big a

fuss that he makes about me not going on tours with him, he sure does feel bad when the

time comes to leave." She said.

"Ah, yes. The only thing Fred gave me before he left was a large pile of laundry to do

and a television set to have repaired."

"What happened to your set Ethel?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Aww, Fred got mad when they cancelled one of his programs. So he threw his shoe at

it."

Lucy laughed. "Well, that's one way to solve your problems."

Ethel shook her head.

"It's not funny, sets are expensive to repair and you know how Fred is about money. He's

going to have a fit when he comes home and sees the bill." Lucy nodded.

"I have to go finish my hair, and then I'm going to head out because I want to make sure

I get an audition, they're on a first come first serve basis." Lucy said before heading

back towards the bathroom. When she was ready she went into little Ricky's room,

kissed him goodbye, seized her coat from the closet and headed towards the door.

"Bye Ethel!" she said "remember the plan!" Ethel nodded.

"Yeah, yeah yeah. Good Luck."

Lucy drove the fifteen minutes to the Rainbow Diner and walked in.

"Can I get you a table Miss?" the hostess asked.

"No, I'm here for the audition." She said, the hostess nodded and directed her to a table in

the far back.

"That is where all the auditioners are meeting. You can sign in with the man wearing the

yellow tie with polka dots." Lucy nodded and casually walked over to the table, trying to

make as if she had been doing this for years and was not nervous in the slightest.

"Name?" the man with the polka-dotted tie asked.

"Lucille Ric… um McGillicutty." She said remembering that these people might just

know her husband. "I'm here to audition."

"Yes, and so is everyone else here" the man said gesturing towards the large table that

easily held over a hundred people. "And these are just the people who made it past

questioning so far. They'll be lots more where they came from." Lucy gulped.

"Questioning?"

"Yes, I have a few questions to ask you about prior experience and what not."

"Oh!! My experience" she said shuffling her feet nervously. Ever since she had made that

bet with Ricky and the Mertzes' that she couldn't go for a day without lying, and had

almost "ended up getting slain by a knife thrower" she had tried to limit herself to white

lies. But as she stood there waiting for the man with the polka-dots to ask his questions,

she recalled that same day, she had been so close to auditioning that she could almost

taste it, then she had to go and tell the truth and she was almost immediately weeded out.

She decided that a few little lies wouldn't hurt, and besides she did have some acting

experience, hadn't she played that flower in her school dance?

"No harm in stretching the truth a little" she said to herself.

"Okay," the man said "how long have you been in the business?"

"What business?" Lucy asked confusedly

"Um, performing arts Ms. McGillicutty."

"OOOOH, right that." She said nervously. "Yeah, well. I started out my career dancing

the part of a flower in one of my school dances, and I have appeared in numerous

performances at the Tropicana. Oh, and I've also rehearsed for a television commercial.

"Which one?

"Doesn't matter, never got a chance to film it."

"Why not?"

"Um, technical difficulties."

"Oh, so, you said you perform at the Tropicana huh? Isn't that Ricky Ricardo's joint?

You got personal contact with him?" Lucy's eyes darted nervously.

"Yeah, he lets me perform there from time to time. I've done some ballet for him, and I

was a clown once as well."

"That's some good experience there Ms. McGillicutty, what pictures have you starred

in?"

"Oh, um, well…" Lucy rambled trying to come up with a good lie. If she started naming

picture's she'd appeared in it would be a good bet that the man would check out the films

and find out that she was nothing but a liar.

"Well, I haven't starred in any pictures per-say, but I've gotten many offers to do so."

"And why haven't you accepted any?" Polka-dot guy asked.

"Well, none of them really floated my boat. But just recently Mr. John Wayne asked me

to come to an audition for him and I told him that I was going to this here audition today

and that I would get back to him."

"Okay, so basically you're saying that your experience is limited to school plays and the

Tropicana, but you're high in demand so I should jump while you're still free." Lucy

nodded.

"Basically, but seriously. You can talk to my elementary school dance instructer, I was

the best flower they ever had."

"Do you have any other references, do you perhaps, mind if we gave Mr. Ricardo a call?"

Lucy's eyes widened.

"Oh, well, um. You see he's kind of on a tour with his band in Los Angeles and he would

be hard to get a hold of. I really don't think he would have any time to talk at the

moment. Yes, very busy man, very busy indeed."

"Oh, not a problem, when does he return, do you know?" Lucy considered lying and

making his return date later but she did want to sound realistic and she figured that they

would have casted by then anyway.

"Oh, not for another two weeks. Like I said, you might try giving my elementary school

dance instructer a call."

"Oh no, that's not a problem Ms. McGillicutty. We won't be making our casting

decisions for at least a month so we'll have plenty of time to contact him after he

returns." Lucy gulped.

"Well, uh. When you do call him, I go by a stage name so he won't know who Lucille

McGillicutty is. My stage name is…" she racked her brain trying to remember one of

Ricky's female dancer's names and finally came up with one. "Vivien Frawley."

"Okay then Ms. McGillicutty, uh, Ms. Frawley, whichever. Have a seat. You made it

through phase one. Just fill out these forms and we'll call you back in a few weeks after

we've contacted your references."

Lucy sat down, half of her ecstatic, the other half nervous. She just hoped that Ricky

didn't catch on.

"How did it go?" Ethel asked as Lucy drifted into the room.

"Well, I made it past phase one." Lucy said plopping down next to Ethel on the couch

and grabbing a handful of mixed nuts.

"Well, what's phase one?" Ethel asked anxiously.

"The questioning. Ricky call?"

"No. What do you mean questioning?" Ethel asked

"The basic questions about experience. I mainly told the truth but with a twist. I told him

I had performed as a flower in a school dance, and that I've performed at the Tropicana,

and that people have asked me to be in pictures and that I have rehearsed for a television

commercial " Ethel nodded.

"No lies in there."

"But I also told him that John Wayne had just recently asked me to be in one of his

pictures, and the reason I have not been in any pictures previously is because none of

them were my cup of tea. Oh, and the guy wants to call Ricky and ask him to give a

reference of me." Ethel's mouth dropped.

"What are you going to do? He'll find out!"

"No he won't, I told the guy my real name was Lucille McGilicutty, but that my stage

name is Vivien Frawley, and that's who he's going refer to me as when he's talking to

Ricky."

"Vivien Frawley…" Ethel racked her brain for a few moments before she remembered

where she had heard that name before. "isn't she one of the dancers at the Tropicana?"

Lucy nodded

"Yes, one of the better ones, Ricky is sure to give her a good reference."

There was not much more for Lucy to do but wait now, and of course practice for the

audition that she was confident she was going to get. The rest of the two weeks passed

by, Lucy singing and reading over Ricky's old scripts until even Ethel had to admit that

she was getting good. She had to admit, if everything worked out with Ricky and the

reference, Ethel figured Lucy would have a good chance of actually getting the role.

"And, to think," Ethel said to herself as she listened to Lucy sing in the shower. "once

Lucy makes it big, she can put in a good word for me, after all, I have starred in a few

things in my time." She smirked as she twirled around the room, singing.

"Hey Ethel, I think you need to change the battery's in that radio." Lucy said poking her

head out from the shower and laughing.

"Hah hah! Very funny" She said, her cheeks reddening as she sat back on the couch.

Three hours later, Lucy was dressed and awaiting Ricky and Fred's return. Five minutes

later, just as Lucy and Ethel had finished laying out the meal on the living room table the

two boys swept into the room.

"Hiya Lucy!" Ricky said going to her and giving her a kiss. "Mmm this looks divine."

Fred walked over to Ethel with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey Ethel, did you get that TV fixed?"

The four of them sat down and began eating there meal.

"So, what did you two girls do when we were away?" Ricky asked.

"Oh, nothing much. Kept the house clean, took care of little Ricky. Girl stuff." Lucy said

"Did the laundry, brought the TV in for repairs, picked up the TV after the repairs. Girl

stuff." Ethel said slightly grumpily.

"Aww come on toots. It was for a good cause!"

"Oh, good then you won't mind the bill then." Ethel said winking at Lucy.

"Well, uh, how much?" Fred asked cautiously

"One hundred and fifty dollars"

"ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS????!!!!!!!" Fred fumed.

"But it was for a good cause." Lucy and Ethel said in unison, as Ethel placed a hand on

Fred's shoulder to calm him down.

"Yeah yeah yeah" he grumbled.

Two days later, As Ricky and Lucy sat in front of the television, the telephone call came.

Ricky answered.

"Hello"

"Hello, Mr. Ricardo. This is Mr. William Vance from Extal Productions. I'm calling

because we were interested in giving one of your dancers an audition for our picture. Her

name is Lu…I mean… Vivien Frawley and I was wondering if you could give us your

opinion on her."

Lucy turned slightly in her chair to hear the conversation, but to make it look like she was

still watching the television.

"Oh, Vivien, she's great. Best dancer I have at the club. She'll make a fine actress."

Lucy grinned triumphantly as she heard Ricky list all of Vivien's fine quality's. Fifteen

minutes later, Ricky hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Lucy asked.

"That was a Mr. Vance from Extal productions. You know that backup dancer I have

down at the club?, Vivien Frawley. Well, she apparently is the type of girl they are

looking for and they just called me to tell them about her a little bit. They say she

definitely has what they're looking for. How bout that?"

Lucy had to bite lip to keep from shouting out in excitement.

"Oh, that's nice dear." She said and turned her head back to the television program.

The next morning after breakfast, Ricky left for the club. Lucy scooped up little Ricky

and went down to Fred and Ethel's apartment.

"Hey Luce, what's up?" Ethel asked.

"I forgot to give you a key piece of information in this little scheme. See I couldn't let

Mr. Vance know that me and Ricky live together so I put down your number as mine. I

hope you don't mind if me and little Ricky hang out here all day… and the next…etcetera

until Mr. Vance calls."

Ethel shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Not at all. Please, make yourself at home. Next thing I suppose you'll be receiving

visitors here as well right?"

Lucy laughed.

"If I don't happen to be here when he calls for any reason, just tell him your my friend

visiting from Los Angeles and I will return his call as soon as I can." Ethel nodded.

An hour later, the telephone rang and Lucy picked it up.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Ms. McGillicutty?, Frawley…"

Lucy laughed

"Yes, this is us."

"This is Mr. William Vance from Extal Productions. We talked to Mr. Ricardo yesterday

and he gave us an excellent evaluation. We'd like to call you back for an audition. Can

we set up the time and date right now?

"Of course." Lucy said triumphantly

"How about tomorrow at noon, or do you have to perform?"

"No, noon tomorrow sounds fine."

"Fine then, I'll meet you at the Rainbow Diner and then we can move to our studio."

"That fine, thank you Mr. Vance, I'll see you tomorrow.

The two hung up and Lucy did a little twirl.

"I might just pull this off." She grinned.

That night, as Lucy sat darning Ricky's socks, he strolled in.

"Hi Ricky!" she said getting up and walking to him.

"Hiya hunny! You want to hear something so funny? I went down to the club today and

decided it would only be appropriate to congratulate Vivien on her audition…"

Lucy could see where this was going and backed off slightly.

"… only to hear her tell me that she had had no audition. Oh, and here's something even

funnier. Mr. Vance, you know, William Vance- of Extal Productions. He decided to make

a little appearance at the club today. Wanted to see Vivien perform. He said he didn't see

her and I pointed her out.. He said that wasn't the girl who had come in for the original

audition. Described her more as a "frowzy red-head." And I quote. I said I only knew one

frowzy red-head and she went by the name Lucille Ricardo. Here's the even funnier thin',

he then proceeded to tell me that this fore-mentioned frowzy red-head had originally

signed in as, Lucille McGillicutty. You dun't know anyone by that name do you?"

Lucy backed off even further.

"Nope, doesn't ring a bell."

"LUCCCCY, I think you have some 'splainin to do"

"Ohhhh"

"Did you go for an audition while I was gone? Tell me the truth."

"Weellll"

"LUCCCCCCYY."

"Alright, I'll 'splain. I really wanted to at least try and see how good I was. And I don't

think it's fair that you have girls in your club that you give good reviews for them to star

in pictures and you won't even support your own wife!"

Ricky looked at her crossly for a moment before smiling.

"Alright, hunny, okay, you're right. I guess I have been selfish all these years trying to

keep you as a house wife. I see where you have talent. Every time you snuck into my club

I secretly wished you were part of the act. You know I'm stubborn. Anyway, I worked

the whole thin out with Mr. Vance and he said you could still do the audition even though

you sort of lied to him."

"Oh Ricky!!!" Lucy said rapping her arms around him.

A month later, Lucy began filming for her first ever roll in a picture. Her co-stars? Mr.

John Wayne, Fred and Ethel Mertz, and, of course, Ricky Ricardo

Between shoots Lucy plopped on the couch, with her chin propped on her hands.

"You looked thoughtful, what's up?" Ricky said sitting down next to Lucy.

"Well, it just occurred to me. Now that you're supporting my acting career, I'm going to

have to come up with a new way to annoy you." Lucy said laughing.

"You're sayin, that all these years, all these little thin's you've been doing, had nothing to

do with wanting to act?"

"It was 20 desire to act, and 80 desire to annoy…"

Lucy laughed uncontrollably as Ricky began to mutter in Spanish.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come on in" Lucy said between giggles.

"Time to shoot." Mr. Vance said.

"Come on hunny" Ricky said putting an arm around her. "Lets' go live your 20

dream…"


End file.
